Recurrent transient hemiparesis in a patient with a giant persisting Eustachian valve and patent foramen ovale: atypical hemiplegic migraine or paradoxical cerebral embolism?

We encountered a patient with the overlapping disorders of migraine with aura, migraine-triggered seizures and recurrent transient hemiparesis caused by atypical hemiplegic migraines with motor weakness during headache attacks, but not during the aura period, or paradoxical cerebral embolism. The patient displayed a giant Eustachian valve and patent foramen ovale, through which a spontaneous right-to-left shunt was revealed on transesophageal echocardiography. We considered that the overlapping disorders in the present case were closely related to the spontaneous right-to-left shunt caused by the giant Eustachian valve.